Month: March 2015

I conducted three more interview sessions. I don’t have a clip this week since most of the time was spent interviewing and I have a lot of film to go through.

My second interviewee comes from a music family with a diverse background in violin and guitar. He showed me his acoustic, electric, and bass, and gave me a lesson in guitar. Another interviewee has quite an understanding of rock history thanks to her parents. She is typically very quiet, but opened up in the interview and was very articulate about her struggles being ridiculed for her music taste growing up. My most recent interview was a joint interview with two individuals that grew up together having similar music experiences. They are interested in live music and concerts. They told me all about 21 Pilots, how they started as a small Columbus band, are now touring in countries like South Korea, and how they feel about it as fans.

I interviewed AJ this past Sunday to understand how music has become a part of his life. He and I have shared concert experiences and introduced each other to various artists, so I knew he would have a lot to contribute to my thesis. I got 70 minutes of footage to work with! Below are a few clips of him talking about how his opinion on the word “genre” and how he likes to organize his music in iTunes.

My thesis is about the way music is organized and consumed, and I was interested in hearing from others in a more open-ended way that explores the psychological and lifestyle aspects of music. I’d like to document the interviews on camera for showing at my thesis exhibit. There are two parts to the filming process: an interview and a look into your personal story.

The Interview
The interview will be short, about 15 questions (listed below). These questions are more for starting the conversation and less about me or the questions themselves, I want responses to be personal and open ended. I plan on cutting interviews up between people, so not every response will make the final cut.

The Story
This part is where I will film you showing me how you’ve made music a part of your life. Some examples could include showing me your CD/vinyl collection, playing or talking about an instrument, showing t-shirts or signed merch you’ve received, posters, etc. These clips will be used for viewers to look at while you’re talking, and possibly completely separate profile videos. This part is very casual.

If this is something you could help me accomplish, I would be very grateful, I only need an hour of your time. Let me know your schedule and we’ll get something planned.

I’m looking to interview people of all age ranges, especially folks outside of CCAD, so if you have any recommendations, feel free to share my email (cwendt.1@go.ccad.edu) and this page. As long as they have a passion for music, they’re a good candidate.

QuestionsTell me a little about your history with music. What music were you listening to in middle school, for example, and how did you end up listening to what you listen to now?
How do you prefer to listen to music? Headphones? Speakers? In the car?
When do you listen to music?
Does music influence other parts of your life?
What does the word “genre” mean to you?
Who is your favorite artist?
Who were some of your favorite artists, and why are they not anymore?
Has music helped you through hard times?
What kind of music do you like?
Why are you drawn to that style of music?
Have you ever been made fun of for the music you listen to?
How did you deal with that?
Why do you think people hate on one artist or another?
Have you ever wanted to create music yourself? Why or why not?
Why do you listen to music?
How do you organize your music? Playlists? Genres?

Here is an example of two songs that may never show up in similar searches based on a mathematical formula. They have a similar beat, tempo, key, and mood, but are technically two different genres (alternative rock and soundtrack respectively).

I met with Robert Loss last Thursday and he gave me some references for research material. He and I spoke about my thesis idea and I got a good idea of things to be thinking about. Below are some of the notes I made: